The early years speech and language therapy team

How can we support you?

• We can help you identify the stage your child is at with their understanding of language and their early communication skills.
• Give you tips and ideas of how you can talk and play with your child to support the development of their speech, language and communication.
• Since children with Down syndrome are strong visual learners, we can help you introduce visual support strategies such as the Makaton signing system and objects of reference to help your child understand words and communicate.
• We can introduce strategies to develop your child’s speech sound system and develop their clarity of speech.
• We can identify any eating or drinking difficulties that your child may have and if appropriate give advice to support and promote their skills. We also work with Portage and the SEND 0-5 Team and this might involve doing joint visits with members from these teams.

Appointments

We may visit you and your child at home or visit your child in nursery. At times we also run workshops and groups. We try to work together with other professionals that may be working with your child such as the SEND 0-5 service and sometimes we do joint visits with them.

Contact us

We are based at: The Ryegate Children’s Centre, Tapton, Crescent Road, S10 5DD.

Telephone number: 0114 271 7617

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or concerns about your child’s language, communication or eating and drinking skills.